EVENTS

The lecture titled India-China Relations: Post-Doklam, Post 19^th Party Congress is organised by the Centre for Public Affairs and Critical Theory, Shiv Nadar University, under its Asian DIalogue Series.

The lecture will argue that the recent trends in India-China relations have strategic implications not only for India, but also the wider world. In this context, the talk will set out the dynamics of contemporary bilateral relations against the background of the Doklam standoff and the recently-concluded 19^th Party Congress of the Communist Party of China.

About the Speaker

Mr Ashok K. Kantha is Director of the Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi since 31 March 2017. He is also a Distinguished Fellow at Vivekananda International Foundation, a New Delhi-based think-tank.

A career diplomat, Kantha was Ambassador of India to China until January 2016. Prior to this, he was Secretary (East) at Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi with responsibility for about 65 countries in India’s extended neighbourhood. His previous assignments include High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka and Malaysia, Consul General in Hong Kong, Deputy Chief of Mission in Kathmandu (Nepal), and Joint Secretary (East Asia) in Ministry of External Affairs. Earlier, Kantha served in different capacities at Indian Missions in Singapore, China and the USA, and at headquarters in New Delhi. 

In his diplomatic career spanning over 38 years, Kantha specialized in Asian affairs, with a particular focus on China.  Apart from three assignments in China, he served as Joint Secretary (East Asia) and Director (China) at Ministry of External Affairsfor periods of four years each, closely involved in the formulation and implementation of India’s foreign policy in respect of China and East Asia.He has an advanced certificate in Chinese language from National University of Singapore.
Kantha joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1977.